The Evolution of Capitol Hill
Fewer nations have experienced faster development than America. For being a relatively young country, it is a major player in the global democratic and economic spheres. Right at the source of this development is the seat of our government, Washington D.C., carved out by the first president himself. The change that Capitol Hill underwent following the early days of independence is truly astonishing. From 1790 to now, D.C. has seen radical change, the likes of which few cities or capitols have ever faced.
While the Founding Fathers of our nation and the first two Continental Congresses were in Philadelphia, a search committee led by Washington was assembled to find the capitol of the new nation. One of the hushed reasons for this relocation was because of the 1783 Pennsylvania Mutiny. The armed militiamen that defended the then capitol wanted compensation for their efforts and the government, then in its infancy, couldn't afford it. So Congress fled to Princeton until a new location was found, but was given executive power in the meantime.
In 1790, seven years later, Washington closed in on an area southeast of Georgetown, a port town in the new Federal District, and had his committee survey the borders. Among the survey crew was an African American astronomer, Benjamin Banneker, who was the son of a free woman. His involvement in charting the territory was not only integral to the initial shaping of D.C., but also personified the fundamental belief of equality that the nation was founded on. Following the committee’s work, Pierre Charles L'Enfant was appointed to design the new city in 1791, but it wasn't until 1800 that Congress and the rest of the American government made the move from Philadelphia to the city of Washington.
During the turn of the 18th century, the District of Columbia underwent dramatic development, making it difficult to balance the financing of this development with ensuring the populace is provided for, not just adequately, but well enough so that they felt justified for dissenting from King George III. While Capitol Hill was beginning to take shape and some of the main avenues we recognize today were being formed, The War of 1812 started, stalling the development of the new capitol city. This skirmish is often remembered as the time the British got back at the U.S. for it's Declaration, but it was actually instigated by the U.S. over trade deals and numerous other factors. The war itself lasted roughly three years and in 1814 the British overwhelmed the U.S. forces at the capitol and burned the White House to the ground. As intense as this battle was, it was quickly resolved in the Treaty of Ghent and trade and international relations returned to normal, for the most part.
At the time of the rebuild of the White House, D.C. was approximately one hundred square miles that was almost exactly ten miles by ten miles. It was a square that encompassed Georgetown as well as Alexandria, another port town that is south along the Potomac. The capitol occupied this area up until the country began to become divided over the question of slavery. The south side of D.C. that was on the west side of the Potomac was struggling economically and felt that abolishing the slave trade would be the nail in the coffin for them. This resulted in the retrocession of Alexandria County to Virginia in 1846 and is why D.C. is the half square that it is today.
The start of the Civil War was another tenuous time for D.C. and with rebel factions amassing, President Lincoln created the Army of the Potomac to defend the capitol. The city's population more than doubled from 75,000 in 1860 to 132,000 in 1870 as citizens sought to be enlisted for the newly expanded veteran pension and freed slaves came to seek employment. Once again, Capitol Hill was reeling from growing pains and desperately needed new development to keep up with urban growth. During this time, German immigrant Adolf Cluss designed more than eighty public and private houses. The list includes The National Museum, The Agriculture Department, as well as The Sumner and Franklin Schools.
In 1873, President Grant appointed Alexander Robey Shepherd from the Board of Public Works to the position of governor. Grant hoped that the D.C. area could be managed in a way similar to a small state, but that was not the outcome. Shepherd authorized numerous large municipal projects that greatly modernized D.C. but he ended up spending nearly three times the budget and bankrupted the city. This did two things. It caught the city up to modern metropolitan standards and led to the abolishment of the District Territorial Government, replacing it with a three-member committee.
The 1880s saw a seismic shift for D.C. and was possibly the last bit of major development that the capitol underwent before it became the city we know today. Up until this point, the capitol was the city of Washington within the D.C. county boundary lines. Expansion was needed. The development of motorized street cars ended up necessitating additions and the northern border, marked by Boundary Street, was renamed Florida Avenue as the border was moved further north. Street cars also reduced canal traffic near the capitol and Tiber Creek, which fed into the Potomac, became a stagnant cesspool. It was subsequently filled in for street use and a portion of it was dubbed Canal Street to commemorate its past. Also during this time, the iconic Washington Monument was completed (1888) and became the tallest stone structure in the world.
By 1895, the capitol had officially absorbed Georgetown and renamed its streets as part of its integration. The rapid consolidation and urbanization saw the marriage of Washington city with the overall District of Columbia and the area was officially dubbed Washington D.C. At this time the city was still basking in the glow of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, an event that showcased new development and showed the world that D.C. is one of the greatest cities on the continent. Following the Exposition, D.C. became self conscious about some of its slums that were beginning to form around Capitol Hill, so in 1900 the McMillan Plan rolled out to clear up the slums, replacing them with monuments and buildings. The plan is considered one of the country's earliest forms of urban renewal and while it was an honest attempt at improving the city, it also marked the start of a mounting racial tension that was about to come to a head during the Woodrow Wilson Administration.
The Wilson Administration sparked outrage by segregating the federal offices as well as other departments under federal control, including education. While this is an unsightly blemish on America's reputation, it led to the doubling and partitioning of some facilities and nonetheless played a role in the shaping of Capitol Hill. It wasn't until Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, in 1933, that things started to look up.
The Great Depression ravaged a huge portion of the American working class and unemployment was running rampant. Roosevelt enacted The New Deal to expand social programs and create labor parties to benefit workers, cities, and ultimately, the people at large. During this time many buildings were constructed in the Federal Triangle and D.C. received a boost in social amenities that continued well into the second World War. At the tail end of the global conflict, America interjected and benefitted not only from commercial and arms trades, but came out sitting pretty on the international economic trade flow. The Pentagon was built very quickly, in 1943, during this expansion to house the growing number of federal defense offices.
In 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued an Executive Order that desegregated in the Army and federal offices. The gradual process of racial integration began and in 1952, with the construction of the John Phillip Sousa Junior High, the neighborhood of Anacostia on the south side of D.C. pushed for integration of schools. The case became Bolling V. Sharpe and was settled two years later. D.C. became the first racially integrated school system and helped with rulings on Brown V. Board of Education, which concluded around the same time. All during this time the Great Migration was winding down and D.C. became the first major city with a majority African American citizens.
The last leaps of Capitol Hill's development were made to its transit systems in the mid 1970s. There were several small bus and car companies that were already in place, but in 1973 the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority was created and it unified and consolidated all the companies into one easy-to-navigate system. Three years later the Washington Metro Subway came to be, as well as some new major highways that alleviated much of the congestion the main streets were beginning to experience.
Capitol Hill, and Washington D.C. at large, developed astonishingly quickly and has evolved to meet the needs of the nation and locals alike. It has always been a reflection of the nation at large. A sample size that is right at the source. Its past is lined with major events and is frequented by the most influential people in the world. While Capitol Hill still has a long way to go, the rest is just history.
Sources:
History of Washington D.C. [Wikipedia]
Washington D.C. Then and Now [Onlyinyourstate]